Reciprocating rock-drill for supplying water to the bore-holes during drilling



W. E. NETTLE, P. SELBY, J. BLYTHE AND J. H. HOLMAN. REGIP'ROCATING ROCK DRILL FOR SUPPLY |NG WATERTO THE BORE HOLES DURING DRILLING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1919.

Patented N 0v. 23, 1920.

Jr c mean s'ra'ra WILLIAM EDVIIN NET'ILE, PAUL SELBY, JAMES BLY'II-IE, AND JOSEPH HENRY HOLT/IAN, OF JOHANNESBURG, TRANSVAAIJ, SOUTH AFRICA.

REOIPROGATING ROCK-DRILL FOR SUPPLYING- RVATER TO THE BORE-HOLES DURIITG- DRILLING.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, lVILLn iu EDWIN NE'r'rLn, a subject of the King of Great Britain, PAUL SELBY, a citizen of the United States, JAMES BLYTHE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and Josnrn HENRY HOL- MAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, all residents of Johannesburg, Transvaal Province, Union of South Africa, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements Applicable to Reciprocating Rock- -Drills for Supplying Water to the Bore- Holes During Drilling, of which the following is a specification.

This invention appertains to reciprocating rock drills 6., those in which the piston, piston rod, chuck or tool holder and tool or bit are all rigidly connected and reciprocated together) and to means for supplying water to the bore-holes as they are being formed by such machines.

In the specification of a prior application for patent filed bythe present applicants on June 26, 1918, Serial No. 242,066, an arrangement is described in which-the cylinder back cover of the machine and a fluid holding vessel or container are each. constructed with a separate stufiing box and gland through which works the tube attached to the reciprocated parts of the drill and which tube serves for conveying the water or other fluid from the aforesaid vessel or container to a passage or conduit leading through said reciprocated parts. The said vessel or container was constructed integral with the cylinder back cover, and the part connecting them was appropriately constructed to form or provide a housing for the aforementioned stuffing boxes or glands.

lVith this arrangement it was necessary from time to time to tighten or adjust the glands by hand, and for that reason the part or housing inclosing them was formed with an opening or slot to allow of ready access thereto.

Now the object of the present improvements is to obviate the necessity for the hand adjustment of the glands, and to provide simple and efiicient means for efiecting such adjustment automatically, and one that is morecompact, stronger and cheaper to construct. This admits of the glands being completely .inclosed-and so rendered inaccessible. The inclosing.oftheglands is de: sirable as the drills or machines are often 5 the drilling tool or bit.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Ngv, 23, 192() Application filed. April 23, 1919. Serial No. 292,046. I

operated by unskilled persons who are incapable of effecting proper adjustment, which leads to disorganization and breakage of the parts. A further object of the present invention is to design the packing parts in such a way that they can beassembled or; put together by a skilled person in a compact and convenient form for transport. It is preferred toconstruct the said parts in cylindrical or cartridge form and of such a size that an operator can, it necessarycarry one or more on his person and when requisite remove a worn one and replace it by a new one, with little loss oftime. This ob-' viates derangement of the parts in putting the same in position and it enables the renewal to be efl'ected by an unskilled person.

According to the present invention, in 'lieu' of the two separate packing glands of the previous arrangement we provide what we may designate a double, automatic or selfadjusting packing gland, which is kept tig ;htv around the water tube by the action of a spring medium located at the rear of the gland and preferablv within the flui d hold:

ing vessel or container. This double packing gland operates at the forward end to prevent the escape ot'the compressed air or motive fiuid through the cylinder back cover and at the rear end to preclude the possibil ity of the water escaping into the cylinder of the machine and insures that the compressed air shall not commingle with" the water in its passage from the water holding j vessel or container to the. bore hole; and also prevents the air from gettinginto the vessel or container and'impeding the flow of water. 1

In the accompanying drawings a practi: cal embodiment of the invention is -illus-' trated. y r

In 'the'drawings -j p Figure 1 represents a part longitudinal section of a reciprocating rock drill with the invention applied thereto, and 1 v Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the fluid holding vessel or container. g

In Fig. 1 ofthe drawings, 1 denotes the cylinder of the drill or machine, 2 the piston, which is adapted to reciprocate in the cylinder 1, 3 the piston rod, 4 the chuck and 8 is the axialpassage or conduit for the water,;which is formed through all ofthe above-mentioned parts and terminates at the cutting extremity back cover for the same purpose.

9 of the bit 5. 10 is the cylinder back cover and 11, is the rifle bar of the rotation mechanism, and 12 the rifle nut which is fixed in the rear end of the piston 2 and is engaged by the rifle bar 11 in the well known ma K 1181'. t 13 is the water tube which at its forward end is resiliently secured in the rear end of the bore 8 and at the bottom of the rifle bar bore 14 in the piston 2. 15 is the collar on the tube 13, 16 the counterbore at the rear end of the hole 8, 17, 13, the two rings or buffers of rubber or other suitable resilient material, which are placed around the tube 13 at opposite sides of the collar 15, and are located in the counterbore 16, and 19 is the screwed bush which is screwed into the counterbore 16 and retains the parts 15, 17, 18, in position therein. The cylinder back cover 10 is constructed with a rearwardly' extending external screw threaded nipple or project1on 20, which serves for attaching thereto the fluid holding vessel or container 21, the latter at its forward end being constructed with an internal screw thread for that purpose.

The projection 20 and back cover 10 are recessed or bored out as indicated at 22, to receive the cylindrical piece or casing 23 which forms the housing for the packings of the self adjusting double gland. The ore ward end of the casing 23 has a small hole 24 through which the water tube 8 works, and a coincident hole 25 is formed in the Between the forward end of the casing 23 and the bottom of the recess or bore 22 a packing ring 26 is placed to make a fluid tight joint between the said parts to preclude the es cape of the compressed air. Between the other and rear end of the casing 23 and a shoulder or annular surface 27 formed inside the vessel or rontainer a packin is positioned to make a fluid tight and prevent the escape of water at that point. r

The casing 23 is constructed withan ternal annular recess 29 and with one or, as shown, a plurality of ports or holes 30 lead ing from said recess into the bore 31 01. said part. The projection 20 is also constructed 1 with one or, as shown, a plurality of holes or ports 32 which communicate with the recess 29.

Inthe forward end of the bore 31 there is arranged a suitable front packing 33 and at the back or rear of said packing 33 a washer 34. In the bore 31 next to the washer tion with the externalv recess 38. ternal recess 38 1s 1n communlcatlon with I constructed with an external recess 38 and with a suitable number of holes 39 which place the internal recess 37 in communica- The ex the holes 30 in the casing 21.

As will be readily understood the recess 37, holes 39, and recess 38 in the member 35, and the holes 30 and recess 29 in the casing 23 and the holes 32 in the projection 20 form or provide a free outlet or escape passage for any water that may leak between the tube 13 and the packing 36 and also for any compressed air that may leak between the tube 13 and the packing'33. By this means the possibility of the water entering the cylinder 1 of the drill or of the air commingling with the water in its passage from the vessel or container '21 through the ma chine to the bore-hole is entirely obviated.

1n the vessel or container 21 there is arranged a plunger or cylindrical part 10, which at its forward end projects into t bore 31 and engages with the rear end of the rear packing 36. This plunger or part 10 at its rear end slidingly engages in the bore 41 the vessel or container 21 and is formed with grooves 42 which allow the water to pass freely into the rear portion oi the bore 11. The plunger is also reduced betweenits ends so as not unduly to impede the passage of the water to and through the grooves 12.

In the bore 411 at the rear of the plunger 10 there is located a helical or coiled spring which at its one end engages with the vessel or container 21 at the rear end of the bore ll and at its other end engages with back or rear end of the plunger 40. 1111s spring is normally in compression so that it is always acting to force the plunger 4O forward and thereby maintain a continuous pressure between the packings 33 and 36 and the surface of the tube 13.

The bore 41 of the vessel or container 21 constitutes the water holding space or chamher and said vessel or container is constructed with a water inlet 4%, so that it can be conveniently connected to the source of water supply. The water supply pipe not shown in the drawings, is preferably a flexible one, and a cock on valve is preferably provided for regulating or controlling the supply of water entering the chamber 41. The connection .with the hose pipe may be conveniently screwed into the inlet 44%. The inlet e 1 may be fitted with a screen for filterlng the water as it passes therethrough.

The water tube 13 projects through ahole or bore 15 formed through the plunger 40 and extends for a suitable distance into the chamber 11 beyond the rear end of said plunger. The tube 13 is of such a length that its open rear end is always in communication with the chamberll during the complete stroke of the piston.

, sembled and arranged in operative position,

. vessel or container and also to prevent the it obviates the over-tightening of the gland and the possible damaging of the watertube by an inexperienced or unskillful operator.

lVhat we claim as our inventionand desire to protectby Letters Patent is 1. In combination, a reciprocating rockdrill having a passage formed through the reciprocated parts, a fluid holding vessel or container attached to the rear end of the drill, a tube attached to and movable with said reciprocated parts, said tube being in communication with the fluid holding vessel or container and with the passage through the reciprocated parts, a self contained detachable double packing gland which is positioned between the end of the rock-drill and the fluid holding vessel or container and operates to prevent the passage of the compressed air or motive fluid into the said passage of the water into the cylinder except through the aforesaid tube, and means for exerting a continuous pressure on the packings to automatically tighten the same around the tube.

2. In combination, a reciprocating rockdrill having a passage formed through the reciprocated parts, a fluid holdingvessel or container attached to the rear end of the drill, a tube attached to and movable with said reciprocated parts and in communication with the fluid holding vessel or container and with the passage through the reciprocated parts, a self contained detachable double packing gland which is positioned between the end of the rock-drill and the fluid holding vessel or container and operates to prevent the passage of the compressed air or motive fluid into the said vessel or container and also to prevent the passage of the water into the cylinder except through the aforesaid tube, and means for exerting a continuous pressure on the packings to automatically tighten the same around the tube, said means comprising a plunger which surrounds the tube and is in contact with the rear packing and a spring which is arranged in the vessel or container and engages with said plunger.

3. In combination, a reciprocating rockdrill having a passage formed through the reciprocated parts, a fluid holding vessel or container attached to the rear end of the drill, a tube. attached to and movable with said reciprocated parts, said tube being in communication with the fluid holding vessel or container, and with the passage through the reciprocated parts, the cylinder back cover being constructed to form a housing for the packing gland surrounding the water 7 tube, an outlet from said housing for the escape of air and water, a casing or member locatedin said housing, packings between the ends of said casing and the cover and the vessel or container, two packings in said casing and a distance piece between them through which packings and distance piece the water tube works, the distance piece and casing having holes, ports or passages for any compressed air or motive fluid that may escape from the cylinder and any water that may escape from the vessel or container, said holes, ports or passages being in communication with the outlet in the housing, a plunger in the vessel or container engaging with the rear packing and a compression spring in the vessel or container engaging with the rear end of said plunger for maintaining a continuous pressure on th packings around the water tube.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWIN NETTLE. PAUL SELBY. JAMES BLYTI-IE. JOSEPH HENRY HOLMAN. Witnesses:

CHARLES OVENDALE, ARTHUR THOMPSON, 

